Desk cover



June 27, 1939. 5 R E TS 2,163,985

DESK COVER Filed March 25, 1957 5. iii 7222? Patented June 27, 1939 UNITED STATES EPATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

It is'well known that the wooden tops. of school desks are subjected to very rough usage, ina much as the children using them carve their initials and other designs onto these tops, and

eventually render thempractically unfit for use, without refinishing.

The main object of the invention, therefore, is to provide an envelope of sheet material which can be readily slipped over the wooden desk top, and to provide means cooperating with the envelope and desk top to lock the envelope securely in position on the aforesaid top. The sheet ma-- terial may be metal, but preferably formed of a composition resembling wood in its characteristics. There are many forms of this sheet material available on the market, and known under the trade names of Presdwcod, Masonite, etc. These materials are about five times as hard as the ordinary desk top, and offer almost as much resistance to mutilation as sheet metal.

A further object of the invention is to provide a locking means for the envelope, which can be readily applied thereto, and which can be adjusted to compensate for the various thicknesses of the desk to which the envelopes are to be applied.

Other objects of the invention will appear as the detailed description thereof proceeds.

In. the drawing:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a desk having an envelope applied thereto;

Figure 2 is a transverse section taken directly below the top of a desk shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a vertical transverse section taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 2 Figure 4 is a broken perspective view of a strip adapted to be interposed between the edge of the desk top and the envelope, for locking the envelope securely to the desk top;

Figure 5 is a perspective view of a substantially rectangular desk or table top to which another form of the envelope may be applied;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary transverse section illustrating another form of locking means for securing the envelope to a desk top;

Figure 7 is a perspective of the locking means illustrated in section in Figure 6;

Figure 8 is a perspective of a resilient clip adapted to be secured to the edge of a desk, and designed for automatically locking an envelope in covering position on-a desk top; and

Figure 9 is a fragmentary cross section illustrating the method of using the locking clip illus- 5 trated in Figure 8.

As shown-in the drawing, the envelope designated generally by the reference numeral iii, comprises a top H having a rim l2 extending perpendicularly to the plane of the top H. The 10 rim I2 will preferably be somewhat greater in depth than the. thickness ofthe desk top 33 to which it is to be applied. This difi'erence'in depth is intended to adapt the envelope to be applied to desk tops of different thicknesses. is

As shown in Figures 2 and 3 of the drawing, the envelope may be secured to the desk top I3 by means of a strip of angle iron having a horizontal flange It provided with suitable apertures l5 adapted to receive tacks it or other suitable so securing means. for securing the strip to the lower face of the desk top. The vertical flange H is provided with any desired number of slots I8 adapted to permit the passage of screws 19 into the edges of the desk top. The rim I2 of the envelope is suitably bored to provide apertures 29 positioned to correspond with the locations of the slots 18 in the vertical flange ll. The apertures 20 are preferably enlarged in the rim ill of the envelope, to form countersinks 2i which may 30 be closed by plugs 22 after the screw H! has been driven home to lock the envelope securely to the desk top 13.

It will be apparent from Figures 2, 3, and 4 of the drawing, that the slots i8 permit movement of the desk top l3 toward and from the interior surface of the envelope top I I. This means that with the construction shown in Figure 3, the envelope may be applied to desk tops of various thicknesses, Without in any way changing the L appearance of the covered top.

It will be understood, of course, that the rim of the envelope will be spaced apart from the edge of the desk sufficiently to accommodate the vertical flange of the angle iron used for locking purposes. Where the inner angles of the envelope rim are somewhat circular, the form of locking strip illustrated in Figure 4 may be used.

This strip comprises a horizontal flange 23, provided with the usual apertures 24. The flange 50 23 is mitered at the corners to permit the bending of the vertical flange 25; and in order to permit the flange 25 to be bent arcuately, the joint between the flanges 24 and 25 is slit for a short distance to permit the formation of this 55 bent portion as indicated by the reference numeral 26 in Figure 4. The projecting ends 21 and 28 of the horizontal fiange 23 may be imbedded in the adjacent portion of the rim of the envelope, or may be bent upwardly along the outer face of the vertical flange 25.

The envelope forming the subject matter of this invention is not to be considered as limited to use on the top of a school desk, such as is illustrated in Figure 1 of the drawing. It is intended to be of universal use; and may be applied to a substantially rectangular table top, such as is illustrated in Figure 5 of the drawing. In this case, the angle iron securing strip would be in the form of a substantially rectangular frame interposed between the edge of the table top and the downwardly extending rim of the envelope. The top 29 may be secured to the desk top 36 by an angle iron frame 3|. In this form of the invention, the frame 3| may have its horizontal flange 32 suitably secured to the lower surface of the desk top 30. The vertical flange 33 is stamped to provide outwardly projecting resilient tabs 35 extending in such direction that when the envelope 29 is forced onto the desk top 30, the tabs 33 will yield to permit movement of the envelope top onto the desk but will prevent its removal therefrom, as indicated clearly in Figure 6 of the drawing.

As a substitute for the rectangular frame illustrated in Figure '7 of the drawing, the spring clips shown in Figure 8, may be used, Each of these clips comprises a body portion 36 having extensions 3'! and 38 projecting in opposite directions from the lower end thereof. The projections 31 and 38 have their free ends bent rearwardly to provide pointed tacks or tabs 39 and 40 adapted to be driven into the edges of the desk top 4| to be covered. The body portion 36 is bent at its upper end to form an outwardly projecting locking tab 42. The material of the clips 35 must be resilient, so that when the envelope 43 is forced over the desk top 4|, the tabs 42 will yield to permit this movement, but will spring outwardly to prevent movement of the envelope top in the opposite direction, and thereby securely lock the envelope to the desk top.

It is to be understood that the invention is not to be considered as limited to the specific construction and arrangement described herein. since it is evident that many changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the claim appended hereto.

What I claim is:

The combination with a desk top of a sheet of inelastic material seated on said top and having an inelastic rim integral with said sheet and surrounding all of the edges of said top, and cooperative locking means concealed by and interposed between all of said edges and the inner faces of said rim to lock said sheet to said top by movement of the sheet to seated position on said top.

SAMUEL J. ROBERTS. 

